Seventeen students, all of whom had proven themselves as superior spellers at their respective schools, gathered Thursday, January 22nd, for the La Cañada Spelling Bee. They began with practice words easy as cat, fox, and swan, then worked their way past gnome, pretentious and verify before two Palm Crest students emerged as first and second place winners.

Palm Crest Fifth grader Sarah P-J. took second, and sixth grader Jordan L. took first in the annual competition. The two were among five spelling for Palm Crest. Others who distinguished themselves at the site level were William W., a fourth grader, and sixth graders Chase Kerstein and Justine Fisher.

Once a spelling bee has advanced so that only two spellers remain, official rules state that, should one speller misspell a word, the other speller must spell it correctly and also spell the next word correctly. If that word is spelled incorrectly, both spellers
are still in the game. At this year’s bee, under the guidance of LCHS Assistant Principal Jim Cartnal, who served as spell master, Sarah and Jordan successfully spelled words such as zucchini, masquerade, poinsettia and magnificence. Then came the drama. Both girls misspelled schizophrenia and rhetoric. When Sarah spelled reminisce incorrectly, Jordan came back with the correct spelling and with the accurate spelling of abolitionist.

As champion, Jordan, who came in second in this spelling bee last year, will now represent both Palm Crest and La Canada in the Los Angeles County Spelling Bee. That event will be held March 25 at the Almansor Golf Course in Alhambra.